Battle of Moorefield

During June and July 1864, Confederate forces under the command of General Jubal A. Early patrolled the Shenandoah Valley. Early's successes were a political liability for President Abraham Lincoln, and caused Union leaders to divert resources away from Richmond and West Virginia. Union soldiers from the Army of West Virginia began arriving via the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in Martinsburg, West Virginia, on July 19, and had an initial success in the Battle of Rutherford's Farm. A few days later, Early tricked Union General George Crook into believing that Early had sent a large part of his Confederate force to Richmond. The result of this deception was a July 24 Confederate victory near Winchester, Virginia, at the Second Battle of Kernstown. Union troops, in some cases panic stricken, retreated to the north side of the Potomac River. Early, who had threatened the federal capital of Washington, D.C. during the first half of July, followed his Kernstown victory with an attack on northern territory. He dispatched two brigades of cavalry under General John McCausland and General Bradley Johnson to conduct raids in Pennsylvania.{{#tag:ref|McCausland was an alumnus of the Virginia Military Institute, which had been burned by Union General David Hunter during June 1864. Panic spread throughout the region as McCausland moved toward Chambersburg. The Union troops nearest to McCausland belonged to General William W. Averell, who was stationed in Hagerstown, Maryland, and had troops guarding nearby fords along the river. Averell had only 1,260 men and two pieces of artillery in his command. Averell's communications were cut around noon. After Early's excursion north of Washington a few weeks earlier, Averell was under pressure to make sure that Washington and Baltimore were not attacked. Averell's spies discovered Confederates moving east on the Baltimore Pike, and Averell mistakenly assumed they planned to attack Baltimore. He cautiously positioned his force, which was under half the size of McCausland's, to protect Baltimore instead of moving directly to Chambersburg. The Confederate troops were merely a patrol that eventually retreated back to Chambersburg. This delayed Averell's arrival at Chambersburg, and allowed the Confederates to raid and burn Chambersburg virtually unopposed on July 30. Damage to the town was devastating—537 homes, businesses, and other structures were destroyed. This included all of the stores and hotels, two mills, two factories, and a brewery. After burning Chambersburg, McCausland moved west and rested his horses. Later that day, Averell arrived in Chambersburg, and then continued to pursue McCausland. His actions may have prevented the burning of Hancock in Maryland, and McConnellsburg and Bedford in Pennsylvania. McCausland planned to burn Hancock, Maryland, after not receiving a ransom of $50,000 ($765,638 in 2016 dollars). This intensified a rift between McCausland and Johnson, who was from Maryland. Johnson denounced his commander, and ordered some of his men to town to protect its residents. The near-mutiny ended when Averell's cavalry approached. Averell's men skirmished with McCausland's rear guard. McCausland had been able to secure fresh horses, and escaped. Averell's horses were exhausted, and he was forced to pause in his pursuit of McCausland in Hancock. He could not secure fresh horses, since any in the area had already been taken by McCausland. Averell rested his troops until August 3, when he received an order from General David Hunter to pursue McCausland and attack "wherever found". With considerable difficulty, McCausland crossed the Potomac River and made camp near Springfield, West Virginia, on the South Branch River. On the next day, they moved toward Romney, and rested until August 4. On August 4, the Confederate cavalry continued with their second objective, which was disrupting the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. They attempted to raid New Creek (present day Keyser, West Virginia). General Kelley sent a train load of reinforcements to defend New Creek, which had "well positioned" artillery but a small force. The reinforcements, artillery, and difficult terrain forced the Confederates to retreat south and abandon their raid. Johnson made his headquarters closer to his brigade at a mansion named Willow Wall that was owned by the McNeill family. Each brigade had two pieces of artillery. Johnson kept several groups of pickets north of his camp along the main road. Averell's main force continued southward at 1:00am on August 7. The force was led by a group of scouts dressed in Confederate uniforms, while the main force followed far enough behind that they could not be detected. The scouts were led by Captain Thomas R. Kerr of the 14th Pennsylvania Cavalry, and his men were selected specifically for this mission. While the scouts led the advance, the main body followed at a distance—and had to frequently stop while the scouts made sure it was safe for the main force to proceed. Many of the men would "lie down by the road side, bridle rein in hand, [and] snatch a few minutes of sleep" while waiting for the scouts to signal it was OK to continue. At about 2:30am, Kerr's scouts deceived and captured a two-man picket from Johnson's Brigade. From this action, the scouts learned the location of the next set of pickets—and quietly captured two more squads of rebels posted along the main road. ==Battle==

Averell attacks Averell approached Johnson's Brigade on the main road from the north. Kerr's squad (dressed as confederates) led the advance. Next came Averell's First Brigade (also called the advance brigade), which was commanded by Major Thomas Gibson and consisted of Gibson's 14th Pennsylvania Cavalry and the 8th Ohio Cavalry. Averell's plan was for Gibson's Brigade to attack using their sabers, and to continue to the river. Averell rode with this brigade. Surprise was important for Averell's force, since it was outnumbered approximately 3,000 to 1,760. Gibson's advance brigade quickly caused the Confederate 1st Maryland Cavalry, and then the 2nd Maryland Cavalry, to flee "in the wildest confusion" without offering much resistance. Gibson's Brigade continued south, waking the 37th Battalion, Virginia Cavalry. This unit fled in all directions, and Gibson's men did not need to shoot. This left the 36th Battalion, Virginia Cavalry, between Gibson's Brigade and General Johnson's headquarters at the McNeill house. The 36th offered the best resistance Gibson had faced so far, but the surprised Confederates were forced to retreat toward the McNeill farm. Near the McNeill house the men from the Confederate Baltimore Battery attempted to fire canister from their two guns, but the unit and guns were captured by the 8th Ohio Cavalry before they could be fired. He performed relatively well at Moorefield, leading portions of his regiment while they slowed the Federal advance on the south side of the river. At the river McCausland's Brigade was on the south side of the South Branch of the Potomac River. The 14th Virginia Cavalry, commanded by Captain Edwin E. Bouldin, was the portion of McCausland's Brigade camped closest to the ford where the road crossed the river. Bouldin faced a mob of men crossing the river that consisted of a mix of Union and Confederate soldiers. For a short while, he was able to slow down Gibson's Brigade—which was becoming scattered and disorganized. After hearing the gunfire, Lieutenant Colonel John T. Radford ordered the 22nd Virginia Cavalry into the fray. Radford's cavalry rode to the west side of the 14th Virginia, and joined the fight. Averell had anticipated resistance at the river, and had Powell's Brigade ready. Major Seymour B. Conger of the 3rd West Virginia Cavalry led the attack across the river on the east side of the main road. On the west side of the road, the Lincoln Cavalry crossed the river unopposed. The New Yorkers circled behind the 22nd Virginia, forcing the regiment to retreat from the riverbank. Among the men who crossed the river were General Johnson and Colonel Peters. After Johnson crossed the river, he "expected to find Brigadier-General McCausland with his command well in hand". However, Conger was soon reinforced by Colonel Powell and the 1st West Virginia Cavalry, which was commanded by Colonel Henry Capehart. The two regiments charged the Virginians and drove them down the road or into the woods. During this time, Conger was killed by a lieutenant from the 17th Virginia. The Virginian was wearing a blue coat that fooled Conger into thinking he was from Conger's regiment. Eventually, some of the fleeing rebels ran into Major Work's 22nd Pennsylvania, and had to scatter to the woods. Work's men captured 34 of them. The fighting and pursuit of McCausland's Brigade endured for about until everyone was so scattered that pursuit was useless. Many of the Confederates were afraid of retaliation for their acts in Chambersburg, and did not want to get caught with the money and items they took. This increased their desperation to flee Averell's men, and caused them to leave their loot behind. A considerable amount of money was recovered from the rebel camps. ==Aftermath==

This battle was the last of the seven battles in Early's campaign against the B&O Railroad. He also wrote that he knew of the approach of Averell, and made the "necessary orders" to confront Averell if necessary. Johnson also complained about "the outrageous conduct of the troops on this expedition". Major Stephen P. Halsey of the 21st Virginia described Averell's victory at Moorfield as "one of the most brilliant achievements of the war". Major Theodore F. Lang, from the 6th West Virginia Cavalry, wrote that the "fight was one of the most signal victories for the Union cause during the war". The devastating loss crippled Early's cavalry in the Shenandoah Valley. Early later wrote that the battle had "a very damaging effect upon my cavalry for the rest of the campaign." The victory also marked the beginning of the "permanent ascendancy of the Union cavalry in the Shenandoah Valley". ==Notes==